System and methods for improved pharmaceutical accuracy and understanding

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure in some embodiments relates to a computer-based method for improving the pharmaceutical understanding of a user. The method includes receiving medication data from a source, wherein the medication data is related to a user&#39;s prescribed, dispensed, or claimed medicines; associating a unique ID for each user with the medication data for the user; providing a user interface, whereby the data for a user is accessible to the user only after the user has provided an authentication, wherein the medication data accessible to the user via the user interface comprises the one or more medications the user is taking.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.61/783,846, entitled, “System and Methods for Improved PharmaceuticalAccuracy and Understanding,” filed Mar. 14, 2013, which is herebyincorporated herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The background description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of thepresently named inventors, to the extent it is described in thisbackground section, as well as aspects of the description that may nototherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neitherexpressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the presentdisclosure.

Because our current healthcare system is not a holistic system, butrather is one that may include a patient seeing two or more doctors orspecialists that do not always communicate with one another, it isdifficult for many people to feel as though they have a handle on theirhealth care. This problem may be particularly pronounced and concerningas it relates to prescription drugs. Because people, particularly sickand/or elderly people, may have more than one doctor prescribing drugsfor them, it is more important than ever to monitor one's ownprescription drug use rather than relying on one or more other people.However, current methods of obtaining information about and/or trackingand/or managing one's prescription drug use may be too complicated, tootime consuming, or too expensive. There is therefore a need for auser-friendly, easy, informative way to manage one's prescription druguse.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more embodimentsof the present disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding ofsuch embodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview of allcontemplated embodiments, and is intended to neither identify key orcritical elements of all embodiments, nor delineate the scope of any orall embodiments.

The present disclosure in some embodiments relates to a computer-basedmethod for improving the pharmaceutical understanding of a user. Themethod includes receiving medication data from a source, wherein themedication data is related to a user's prescribed, dispensed, or claimedmedicines; associating a unique ID for each user with the medicationdata for the user; providing a user interface, whereby the data for auser is accessible to the user only after the user has provided anauthentication, wherein the medication data accessible to the user viathe user interface comprises the one or more medications the user istaking.

In some embodiments, the user may be an employee. In some embodiments,the source may be the user's employer. In some embodiments, the sourcemay be the user's insurer or pharmacy benefit manager. The source may bea pharmacy in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the medication data may be prescription medicines,over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

In some embodiments, the method may include alerting the user via theuser interface if two or more of the medications the user is taking arecontra-indicated.

A user tutorial may also be provided that associates the one or moremedications the user is taking with the reason the medication is beingtaken, in some embodiments.

Medication data may be received from a source in substantially real-timein some cases. In other embodiments or in addition to real-time, thereceiving of medication data from a source may be completed overpre-determined intervals of time.

In some embodiments the user may grant one or more other entities accessto the user's medication data. In some cases, the access granted may beview-only access. In other cases, the access may be view-and-editaccess. The method may also include providing the user with alertsindicating when one or more medications the user is taking need to berefilled.

The present disclosure in some embodiments includes a method formanaging one or more medications taken by a user. The method includesreceiving medication data from a user's employer, wherein the medicationdata is related to a user's prescribed, or claimed medicines. A uniqueID may be associated with each user with the medication data for theuser. A user interface may also be provided, whereby the data for a useris accessible to the user only after the user has provided anauthentication, wherein the medication data accessible to the user viathe user interface comprises the one or more medications the user istaking; and providing a rewards system the user accesses from the userinterface.

In some embodiments, the reward system includes giving a user points forsuccessfully completing one or more tasks. In some embodiments, the datareceived from the user's employer is from an employer-based insurer.

The present disclosure in other embodiments includes a method formanaging one or more medications taken by a user. The method includes,receiving medication data from a source, wherein the medication data isrelated to a user's prescribed, dispensed, and claimed medicines;associating a unique ID for each user with the medication data for theuser; providing a user interface, whereby the data for a user isaccessible to the user only after the user has provided anauthentication; and providing a tutorial that the user may access formthe user interface, wherein the tutorial associates the reason fortaking a medication with the name of the medication.

In some embodiments, the source is an employer of the user. In otherembodiments, the source is the user.

While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments of thepresent disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art fromthe following detailed description, which shows and describesillustrative embodiments of the disclosure. As will be realized, thevarious embodiments of the present disclosure are capable ofmodifications in various obvious aspects, all without departing form thespirit and scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the drawingsand detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in natureand not restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings, reference characters refer to the sameparts throughout the different figures. The drawings are not necessarilyto scale, emphasis has instead been placed upon illustrating theprinciples of embodiments of the present disclosure. With respect to thedrawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an system of the present disclosure, inaccordance with one embodiment.

FIGS. 2A-2N are screenshots from an exemplary embodiment of aweb-browser based user interface.

FIGS. 3A-3Q are screenshots from an exemplary embodiment of a mobileapplication based user interface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure in some embodiments is directed to systems andmethods for increasing pharmaceutical competency of patients, byproviding users/patients with a location to track, manage, learn about,and improve their understanding of the one or more medications they maybe taking. In some embodiments the systems of the present disclosure maybe a web-based system. In some cases, the web-based system may bemanaged by a Portal Provider. In at least one embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the health tracking system and methods 100 described hereinutilize a cloud-based 4 system managed by a Portal Provider 6 with aweb-based user interface 8, 10, which may be a multi-channel method, asshown in FIG. 1.

In some embodiments, a user may be an individual user not associatedwith an employer. In other embodiments, the user 2 may be an employee ofa company 10, as shown in FIG. 1. A user in some embodiments may enrolldirectly for services with the Portal Provider System (“PPS”) via aweb-based user interface, the telephone, mail-in materials, etc. Inother embodiments, the user's enrollment may be associated with and/orinitiated by the user's employer. In some embodiments of employer-basedsystems, such as that shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 may generally beconfigured as follows: the company 10 may receive information related toprescription medication, for example, for each of its participatingemployees 2 directly from the payer's prescription data 14; before thisinformation is transmitted to the PPS 6, the data may be processedthrough a secure data extraction process 20, such that only the desiredand/or HIPAA-compliant information, for example, may be provided to thePPS 6; in some cases the user 2 may also provide the PPS 6 with theirown medication information, as will be discussed further below; the PPS6 may include a number of features and may have access to a plurality ofdatabases—for example, the PPS 6 may include a patient match engine 16that matches a user's registration information to drug informationreceived from the payer prescription data, for example. In someembodiments, the PPS 6 may also include a drug database 20 that may beaccessed by the system to provide the most current and up-to-date druginformation for use by the system 100. The overall system 100 may besecured by one or more methods, including the use of encryption,password protection, firewalls, etc. Further, the overall system 100 maybe complaint with all relevant and appropriate regulations, includingfor example HIPAA laws.

In some embodiments, the system and methods of the present disclosuremay generally include the following steps: an employer may work togetherwith the PPS to pre-populate the PPS with data related to the employergenerally and/or with data related to each of its employee users of thesystem; the employer may also determine how future, on-going data willbe provided to the PPS, including whether it will be provided in batchformat, or in substantially real-time; the employer, employee, and/orthe PPS may determine a unique employee identification number for eachemployee user; the PPS may include one or more databases with relevantand in some cases regularly updated information, such as pharmacydirectories that include locations and contact information forpharmacies, drug databases that include drug information and images,medical dictionaries, medical encyclopedias, and/or any other usefulinformation; the employee user may receive an invitation link from thePPS and/or the employer to register with the system; the employee maythen register with the system including providing a secure password; theuser interface of the system that may be made available to the user mayinclude application that make available to the user all or some portionof the pre-populated data provided by the employer that has been matchedto the specific user via the PPS patient matching engine; onceregistered and signed in, the user may access all of the advantageousfeatures of the system described and disclosed herein.

As described above, in some embodiments the PPS may be pre-populatedwith data in a Data Pre-Population step (referred to herein as the “DPP”step). The DPP may be achieved a number of ways depending on theemployer's preference, for example. In some embodiments, the employerand the Portal Provider System may work together to determine how thedata upload will occur, including how frequently such uploads willoccur. This coordination may take place in person, on-line, over thephone, or by any other suitable means. In some cases, the employee willinteract with the PPS regarding the DPP through a secure web-based userinterface. The employer may decide to provide the file data in one ofseveral ways, including, but not limited to in a batch file, or areal-time transactional format.

A batch file may contain prescription history for all employees of theemployer and may be delivered to the PPS on a consistent pre-determinedfrequency, in some embodiments. The employer and the PPS may alsodetermine the secure file transfer method preferred for the upload. TheDPP step may include the employer sending data via a secured transfermethod. In some cases the data may include data obtained and/or storedover a pre-determined amount of time, for example, the previous twelvemonths. Though it will be understood that any appropriate time frame maybe used. The specific data provided may include, but is not limited tomedication data (e.g. medication name/strength/form, quantity, quantityunit, days' supply, instructions, refill information, written date,dispense/fill date, prescriber order number); prescribing physicianinformation (e.g. NPI#, name, address, primary phone); pharmacyinformation (e.g. NCPDP ID, NPI, pharmacy name, address, primary phone);and individual information (e.g. employee unique ID, full name, date ofbirth, address).

The real-time transactional format may allow the PPS to requestmedication information for a particular employee/user/patient on anas-needed basis. In this case, the employer and PPS may determine thevolume of data provided at each request. In use, a user may access thePortal Provider System, which may request medication history real timetransaction data from the client. This process may involve, for example,retrieving the medication history claim or dispense data from thesupplier's claim or dispense database.

In some cases the medication related information content may comedirectly from an insurer or pharmacy benefit manager, in which case thefile upload will be via one of these third-parties and not directlythrough the employer. Though, it will be understood that in some cases,the employer may wish to be in control of what is uploaded to the PPSand therefore the employer may obtain information from the third partyand then provide it to the Portal Provider System.

The employer may determine what data is made accessible related to theemployee/user's medication history. Further, the employer may determinea unique identification for each employee. This identification may beany unique identification, such as, but not limited to a social securitynumber, employee ID, or other identification. The employer may provideinformation for each of (or some subset of) its employees, including,but not limited to: unique ID for the employee; full name of employee;email address of employee; date of birth of employee; home address;and/or any other useful appropriate information. The employer may sendthe PPS an updated employee roster from time to time, and in some caseson a set schedule, for example, every six months, or 12 months. Any newemployees may be added to the PPS and an invitation with a link may besent to the new employee. The employer may update the Portal ProviderSystem to indicate employees who leave the company, in some cases. Suchemployees may remain in the PPS system as individual users, but the userwill no longer be associated with its former employer, in some cases.

The Portal Provider System (“PPS”) may also include a complete andup-to-date pharmacy directory. In some embodiments, the directory may beobtained from the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs(“NCPDP”). The directory may allow the user to setup preferredpharmacies and may match to the medication histories dispensingpharmacy. The data in the directory may include, but is not limited to:NCPDP ID; National Provider Identification (“NPI”); pharmacy name;pharmacy address; pharmacy telephone number; pharmacy email. The PPS mayinclude downloading the latest NCPDP pharmacy file on a regular basis,for example, in some embodiments, on a monthly basis. Though it will beunderstood that the information may be updated on an as-needed basis, adaily basis, a yearly basis, or any other suitable basis.

The PPS may also include a database including a complete drug file. Insome cases, such a file may be provided by Gold Standard or otherindustry-standard database. The drug file may include drug name, images,uses, dosages, side-effects, contra-indications, etc. This file may beaccessible to the user to assist the user by, for example, verifying thepre-loaded information and/or manually loading new or missinginformation manually into the PPS. The drug database vendor may sendperiodic updates to the PPS related to the drug database and images inan effort to always have the most current information available to theusers of the PPS.

Once the DPP is complete, a user/employee may access the system. In someembodiments, the employer may send a registration link to each employee,by for example, hard copy mail, or electronic mail. In other cases, thePPS may send the link to the employee/user. The employee may receive anintroductory email explaining the value of the PPS and a link that mayallow the employee to register with the PPS. The employee may click onthe link to arrive at a secure web site user interface page that mayassist them through the registration process. The employee may create auser password, whereby the employee may not have access to the user'spage without providing that password. While passwords are described,other authentication and security methods are also contemplated andwithin the spirit of the present disclosure. The employee/user may beasked to provide additional information such as demographic information,emergency information, or other relevant information. They may also beasked to review and verify the pre-populated information that includesthe employee's medication information which may be linked up for viewingbased on the employee's unique ID.

The user/employee may update their own user page with any newmedications they may be taking. In at least one embodiment, the user canscan QR codes or UPC codes, for example, from the relevant newmedications to update their medication data in the system. Alternatelyor additionally, the user's records may be automatically updated by orthrough their employer. The user/employee may be asked to verify anyinformation that is automatically populated from a source other than theuser/employee. In some embodiments, the user may manually archivemedications they are no longer taking. If a new pharmacy is used, thesystem may be updated to reflect this. In some cases, the employer mayprovide the PPS with information obtained through claims data, thus eachprescription filled through an employer's employer-based insurance maybe provided to the PPS.

A user interface may be provided that is intuitive and user friendly.Many embodiments are contemplated and within the scope of the presentdisclosure. For example, an image of the shelves of a medicine cabinetmay be seen, with bottles sitting on the shelf indicating each of thedifferent medications that the patient may be taking. The bottle mayhave the name (generic and/or branded) of the drug on the front of thebottle. When the user scrolls over the image, an exploded view mayappear that provides an image of the drug, the fill date, the dosage,the frequency of use, etc. Of course, other embodiments may includeother ways of presenting the information. In some embodiments, the usermay select between a number of different user interfaces. For example,in some embodiments, the interface may have an option for a recording toplay the name of the drug, and other information related to themedicines a patient is taking and/or interested in, which may beparticularly helpful for those with poor eye sight. In some embodiments,additional information may be made available to the curious user. Forexample, recent articles related to the medicine that is being takenand/or alternatives to the medicine may be made available to the user.

Exemplary embodiments of the user interface include a web-browser baseduser interface 200 shown in FIGS. 2A-2N and a mobile application baseduser interface 300 shown FIGS. 3A-3Q. It is contemplated that a user mayutilize one or both of the web-browser based user interface 200 and themobile application based user interface 300 to access the PPS.

FIG. 2A shows an exemplary account creation form 210 for the userinterface 200, showing an example of the secure web site user interfacepage that may assist the user through the registration process discussedabove. Here, the user may create a user password as shown in FIG. 2A,whereby the employee may not have access to the user's page withoutproviding that password, in some embodiments. In addition, the user mayprovide an answer to a particular security question, which may be usedfor authentication purposes. While passwords and responses to particularsecurity questions are described, other authentication and securitymethods (such as fingerprints, voice-recognition and/orfacial-recognition) are also contemplated and within the spirit of thepresent disclosure. In at least some embodiments, these same password,security answer, or other authentication method may be used to logininto the mobile application-based user interface 300.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the user can create a profile 212, which mayinclude the user's picture 214, personal information 216, primary doctorinformation, 218 and primary pharmacy information 220. Some of thisinformation may be pre-populated based on the employee's unique ID. Someor all of this profile information may be editable when the user selectsthe “edit” button 222. The employee/user may be asked to provideadditional information such as demographic information, emergencyinformation, or other relevant information. They may also be asked toreview and verify the pre-populated information that includes theemployee's medication information which may be linked up for viewingbased on the employee's unique ID. The user interface may also include alogout feature 233, which allows the user to securely exit the userinterface.

As also shown in FIG. 2B, a number of tabs may be provided at the top ofthe user interface for entering, for example, medications 224, drugallergies 226, doctors 228, pharmacies 230, and notes 232. In theexemplary embodiment shown, the user's profile 212 is shown regardlessof which tab 224, 226, 228, 230, 232 the user is presently accessing sothat the user can easily verify that the user is currently viewing orediting the correct user's information.

As shown in FIG. 2C, on the tab for doctors 228, the user may add newdoctors by selecting the “add new” button 234, including informationsuch as the doctor's name, clinic name, clinic address, phone number andpractice specialty. The user has the option of selecting a particulardoctor to be listed as their primary doctor, as shown at 236. In atleast one embodiment, where the user selects a different doctor to betheir primary doctor, the primary doctor information 218 in the userprofile 212 automatically updates to reflect the newly selected doctor.

As shown in FIG. 2D, on the tab for pharmacies 230, the user may add newpharmacies by selecting the “add new” button 238, including informationsuch as the pharmacy's name, address, phone number and website. The userhas the option of selecting to be listed as their primary doctor, asshown at 240. In at least one embodiment, where the user selects adifferent pharmacy to be their primary pharmacy, the primary pharmacyinformation 220 in the user profile 212 automatically updates to reflectthe newly selected pharmacy. In at least one embodiment, the user may beable to directly access a map showing the location of the pharmacy (orthe doctor's office) and get directions as shown at 242.

As shown in FIG. 2E, on the tab for drug allergies 226, the user may addnew allergies by selecting the “add new” button 244, includinginformation such as the name of the medication, the allergic reaction,and notes associated with the allergic reaction.

The user may be asked to enter all medications he or she is currentlytaking or review and verify the pre-populated medication information. Asshown in FIGS. 2F-2I, on the tab for medications 224, the user may addinformation about new medications, including the name of the medication,the dosage quantity, the frequency of use, dates of use, specialinstructions for taking the medication, and the prescribing doctor. Inat least one embodiment, the doctors listed are pre-populated from thedoctor information stored on the tab for doctors. The user may be askedto provide a listing of their medications or it may be pre-populatedbased on information received through the payer's prescription data asdiscussed above.

In at least one embodiment, the user may also be asked to provide thereason for use associated with each medication they are taking. In someembodiments, such as the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2F-2I, a user may beasked to select a reason, even by selecting “not sure”, in order to savethe medication in the user's list of active medications. In someembodiments, such as the embodiment shown in FIG. 2G, the user firstselects a medication and then is asked to select a reason for takingfrom a pre-determined list of reasons pertaining to the selectedmedication. If the user selects “not sure” in response to the request totie the reason for use with the medication, a prompt may be providedthat instructs the user to see a physician or pharmacist for furtherinformation, as shown in FIG. 2H. The user can review their full list ofcurrent medications on tab 224, which shows the medication name, thereason for taking, the quantity, the frequency, and the prescribingdoctor. In some embodiments, those medications where they are not surewhy they are taking a particular medication may be highlighted forinstance in red. Further, in some cases, a coding scheme may be used tofurther inform patients about the medications they are taking. In theexample provided above, if a patient/user indicates that they are notsure why they are taking a particular medication, that bottle on theuser interface may be colored red, which may indicate that there issomething that is unclear or unresolved about that particular medicine.In some cases, medications that are contra-indicated may both turn acertain color, orange for example, which may indicate that theuser/patient should discuss these medications with a doctor orpharmacist. In some embodiments, the PPS may include a user-interactivetutorial to help teach users more about the medications they are taking.For example, in one embodiment, a tutorial may help a user tie the nameof the medicine to the clinical reason(s) for its use. For example,lisinopril may be taken for high blood pressure, congestive heartfailure, or kidney protection. As shown in FIG. 2J, the user is able toprint the medication profile, listing all of the current medications anddrug allergies, as well as identifying information, in some embodiments.

The user-interface may also have a “my files” application that allowsthe user to take notes about their doctor visits and keep those notes inone place. For example, if the user interface indicates that twomedicines a user is taking are contra-indicated, the bottles may bothturn orange and a message may pop-up indicating that the user shouldspeak to a doctor about these medicines. In some cases, the message mayautomatically be saved in a “notes file” for that medicine, and themessage may pop up each time a user logs-in to the system, or at someother pre-determined time. If the user discusses the issue with aprofessional and is satisfied that taking both medications is ok, theuser may include the substance of that consultation in a notes sectionrelated to those medicines and may also clear the related message.

In another embodiment, the PPS may include a tutorial that teaches usersabout the medicines they take by helping them create memory associationsbetween the name of the medicine and the reason(s) for its use. Knowingwhy one takes a medicine may help increase the likelihood that it willbe taken properly. For example, if a person takes a blood pressuremedication (e.g. atenolol), but does not know the name, they are lesslikely to take the medication. If they know they take atenolol, but donot know that it is for blood pressure, they are also less likely toremember to take the medication. If they know that atenolol is a bloodpressure medication and their doctor has told them that controllingblood pressure prevents a stroke, the patient makes a memory associationabout the importance of that medication to their health. This memoryassociation greatly increases the likelihood of taking a medicine asprescribed.

In still other embodiments, the PPS may include, or may also include aninvitation feature, such as shown in FIG. 2K. As shown, the invitationfeature 250 may be included as part of the user's profile 212. Theinvitation feature may allow users to invite others to view their secureuser interface under a “view” status, or a “view and edit” status insome cases. This feature may allow users to invite others to view theirmedication profile, or they can invite them to view and edit theirmedication profile. This may be important in allowing a user'scaregiver, for example, to share relevant information and have anability to co-manage a user's health care. As shown at least in FIGS.2K-2L, the user has the ability to set viewing permission levels for thethird parties as shown at 252. In at least the embodiment shown in FIGS.2K-2L, the user can revoke any access provided to others at any time asshown at 254. As shown in FIG. 2M, the user may be subject to a popupwindow 260 requesting the user to verify that the user wants to revokeaccess to the particular user profile.

In some embodiments, claims information can be used to sendnotifications for refill requests to the user. For example, if themedication had 30 tablets when the prescription is filled, the systemmay send an auto-refill reminder with pharmacy information to the user7-10 days, for example, beforehand so that the user can order a refillbefore the prescription runs out. In some cases, the user may determinehow soon in advance a reminder(s) is sent prior to a prescriptionrunning out. This system may be used for prescription medications,over-the-counter medications, vitamins, and/or herbal supplements, forexample.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2N, the system may include arewards feature for the provider or source (e.g. employer, insurer,etc.) to incentivize users to use the system. The rewards feature maycalculate points for various tasks (e.g. signing up, creating anaccount, setting alarms, taking medicines, etc.) and tabulate thepoints. The points may be shown on the user interface as shown in FIG.2N at 270. In some embodiments, users may redeem the tabulated pointsfor incentive products such as items or gift certificates.

As mentioned above with respect to the web-browser based user interface200, the mobile application user interface 300 may include many of thesame features and functionalities as the web-browser based userinterface 200. As shown in FIG. 3A, the mobile application userinterface 300 can display each medication, and the user can select oredit the medication and provide a reason for taking the medication. Inat least one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3B, if the user selects “notsure” as the reason, the mobile application user interface 300 displaysa prompt 310 or other notification for the user to contact his or herdoctor or pharmacist to learn why you take this medication. In at leastone embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3C, in the user's list of medications320, the name of the medication may be displayed along with the reasonfor taking the medication. In some embodiments, the user is able tostore information related to the medications that the user is currentlytaking as well as prior taken medications. In at least one embodimentshown in FIG. 3C, these are stored under separate tabs, such as a“current” tab 322 and an “archived” tab 324. In some embodiments, suchas the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3D-3E, the mobile application userinterface includes the ability for the user to invite others to theuser's information page(s). The user and/or another entity may selectthe permission level of the other user to edit and/or view the user'sinformation. In some embodiments, such as the embodiment shown in FIG.3F, the user can view the user profile and can edit the profile. In atleast one embodiment, the user can select an “edit” button 330 to modifythe information. In some embodiments, the level of “edit” access may beselected by the user such that in some cases all information may beedited, while in other cases, only selected information may be edited bythe invited guest. In other embodiments, however, a guest may only beable to view a user's profile, but not edit the profile or profileinformation.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 3G-3J, the mobile applicationuser interface 300 provides reminder notifications 340 or other messagesto remind the person that a particular medication needs to beadministered at a particular time. As shown in FIGS. 3G-3H, the mobileapplication user interface allows the user to either delete the reminderor affirm that the medication was taken, as shown at 350. In someembodiments, as shown in FIGS. 3G-3H, the user can also affirm that ithas taken multiple medications by selecting the “take all” button 352.The mobile application user interface 300 thus records if and when theuser has taken a particular medication. As shown in FIG. 3J, the usercan review what medications were taken by selecting the “tracking”feature 360, which displays the most recently taken medication and thetime it was taken, or in cases where the medication was not taken butshould have been, it displays that information also.

In addition, the mobile application user interface 300 can providetracking reports for taken and skipped medications, which can bedisplayed based on one or more parameters such as day, week, month oroverall, as shown in FIG. 3K and can be e-mailed or otherwise sent toanother person as shown in FIG. 3L. Like the web-browser based userinterface 200, the mobile application user interface 300 also canprovide doctor information as shown in FIG. 3M, pharmacy information asshown in FIG. 3N, and drug allergy information as shown in FIG. 3O. Thisinformation may be editable through the mobile application userinterface 300, or the user may have to login to the web-browser baseduser interface 200 in order to edit the information. Like theweb-browser based user interface 200, the mobile application userinterface 300 also can include a rewards feature, which may calculatepoints for various tasks completed (e.g. signing up, creating anaccount, setting alarms, taking medicines, etc.), tabulate the points,and display them as shown in FIGS. 3P-3Q. It will be understood thatwhile a particular feature may have been described herein with regard tothe web-based version or the mobile application version, any of thefeatures described may be combined or added to any of the embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

For purposes of this disclosure, any system described herein may includeany instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable tocompute, calculate, determine, classify, process, transmit, receive,retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, communicate, manifest,detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information,intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or otherpurposes. For example, a system or any portion thereof may be a personalcomputer (e.g., desktop or laptop), tablet computer, mobile device(e.g., personal digital assistant (PDA) or smart phone), server (e.g.,blade server or rack server), a network storage device, or any othersuitable device or combination of devices and may vary in size, shape,performance, functionality, and price. A system may include randomaccess memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a centralprocessing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/orother types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of a system mayinclude one or more disk drives or one or more mass storage devices, oneor more network ports for communicating with external devices as well asvarious input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse,touchscreen and/or a video display. Mass storage devices may include,but are not limited to, a hard disk drive, floppy disk drive, CD-ROMdrive, smart drive, flash drive, or other types of non-volatile datastorage, a plurality of storage devices, or any combination of storagedevices. A system may include what is referred to as a user interface,which may generally include a display, mouse or other cursor controldevice, keyboard, button, touchpad, touch screen, microphone, camera,video recorder, speaker, LED, light, joystick, switch, buzzer, bell,and/or other user input/output device for communicating with one or moreusers or for entering information into the system. Output devices mayinclude any type of device for presenting information to a user,including but not limited to, a computer monitor, flat-screen display,or other visual display, a printer, and/or speakers or any other devicefor providing information in audio form, such as a telephone, aplurality of output devices, or any combination of output devices. Asystem may also include one or more buses operable to transmitcommunications between the various hardware components.

One or more programs or applications, such as a web browser, and/orother applications may be stored in one or more of the system datastorage devices. Programs or applications may be loaded in part or inwhole into a main memory or processor during execution by the processor.One or more processors may execute applications or programs to runsystems or methods of the present disclosure, or portions thereof,stored as executable programs or program code in the memory, or receivedfrom the Internet or other network. Any commercial or freeware webbrowser or other application capable of retrieving content from anetwork and displaying pages or screens may be used. In someembodiments, a customized application may be used to access, display,and update information.

Hardware and software components of the present disclosure, as discussedherein, may be integral portions of a single computer or server or maybe connected parts of a computer network. The hardware and softwarecomponents may be located within a single location or, in otherembodiments, portions of the hardware and software components may bedivided among a plurality of locations and connected directly or througha global computer information network, such as the Internet and/or the“cloud.”

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the variousembodiments of the present disclosure may be embodied as a method(including, for example, a computer-implemented process, a businessprocess, and/or any other process), apparatus (including, for example, asystem, machine, device, computer program product, and/or the like), ora combination of the foregoing. Accordingly, embodiments of the presentdisclosure may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, anentirely software embodiment (including firmware, middleware, microcode,hardware description languages, etc.), or an embodiment combiningsoftware and hardware aspects. Furthermore, embodiments of the presentdisclosure may take the form of a computer program product on acomputer-readable medium or computer-readable storage medium, havingcomputer-executable program code embodied in the medium, that defineprocesses or methods described herein. A processor or processors mayperform the necessary tasks defined by the computer-executable programcode. Computer-executable program code for carrying out operations ofembodiments of the present disclosure may be written in an objectoriented, scripted or unscripted programming language such as Java,Perl, PHP, Visual Basic, Smalltalk, C++, or the like. However, thecomputer program code for carrying out operations of embodiments of thepresent disclosure may also be written in conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the C programming language or similarprogramming languages. A code segment may represent a procedure, afunction, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, anobject, a software package, a class, or any combination of instructions,data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled toanother code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receivinginformation, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents.Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded,or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, messagepassing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

In the context of this document, a computer readable medium may be anymedium that can contain, store, communicate, or transport the programfor use by or in connection with the systems disclosed herein. Thecomputer-executable program code may be transmitted using anyappropriate medium, including but not limited to the Internet, opticalfiber cable, radio frequency (RF) signals or other wireless signals, orother mediums. The computer readable medium may be, for example but isnot limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device. More specificexamples of suitable computer readable medium include, but are notlimited to, an electrical connection having one or more wires or atangible storage medium such as a portable computer diskette, a harddisk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), anerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), acompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or other optical or magneticstorage device. Computer-readable media includes, but is not to beconfused with, computer-readable storage medium, which is intended tocover all physical, non-transitory, or similar embodiments ofcomputer-readable media.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be described hereinwith reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams ofmethods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products. It isunderstood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or blockdiagrams, and/or combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrationsand/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer-executable programcode portions. These computer-executable program code portions may beprovided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purposecomputer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce aparticular machine, such that the code portions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create mechanisms for implementing the functions/actsspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.Alternatively, computer program implemented steps or acts may becombined with operator or human implemented steps or acts in order tocarry out an embodiment of the invention.

Additionally, although a flowchart may illustrate a method as asequential process, many of the operations in the flowcharts illustratedherein can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, theorder of the method steps illustrated in a flowchart may be rearrangedfor some embodiments. Similarly, a method illustrated in a flow chartcould have additional steps not included therein or fewer steps thanthose shown. A method step may correspond to a method, a function, aprocedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc.

As used herein, the terms “substantially” or “generally” refer to thecomplete or nearly complete extent or degree of an action,characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result. Forexample, an object that is “substantially” or “generally” enclosed wouldmean that the object is either completely enclosed or nearly completelyenclosed. The exact allowable degree of deviation from absolutecompleteness may in some cases depend on the specific context. However,generally speaking, the nearness of completion will be so as to havegenerally the same overall result as if absolute and total completionwere obtained. The use of “substantially” or “generally” is equallyapplicable when used in a negative connotation to refer to the completeor near complete lack of an action, characteristic, property, state,structure, item, or result. For example, an element, combination,embodiment, or composition that is “substantially free of” or “generallyfree of” an ingredient or element may still actually contain such itemas long as there is generally no measurable effect thereof.

In the foregoing description various embodiments of the presentdisclosure have been presented for the purpose of illustration anddescription. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise form disclosed. Obvious modifications orvariations are possible in light of the above teachings. The variousembodiments were chosen and described to provide the best illustrationof the principals of the disclosure and their practical application, andto enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the variousembodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particularuse contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within thescope of the present disclosure as determined by the appended claimswhen interpreted in accordance with the breadth they are fairly,legally, and equitably entitled.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-based method for managing medicationdata for a plurality of users, the method comprising: obtaining, using aportal provider system comprising a database, medication data associatedwith a plurality of users through a secure document extraction processand in real time from a medication information source, wherein themedication data comprises the users' prescribed, dispensed, and claimedmedicines; storing, using the portal provider system, the medicationdata in the database in a non-transitory computer readable media;providing, through a secure patient portal comprising a web-based userinterface, access for a respective user of the plurality of users to themedication data associated with that respective user from the database;for each of the plurality of users, pre-populating, using the portalprovider system, the secure patient portal with the medication dataassociated with each of the plurality of users from the database;sending, using the portal provider system, an invitation to one or moreof the plurality of users, the invitation comprising a registration linkfor the secure patient portal to enable the one or more of the pluralityof users to securely register for the secure patient portal by creatinga unique login and password; once a respective one of the plurality ofusers creates a unique login and password, receiving information fromthe respective one of the plurality of users and completing, using theportal provider system, a user profile for the respective one of theplurality of users based on the received information; and providing,through the secure patient portal, to the respective one of theplurality of users, a user-interactive computer-implemented tutorial,wherein, using computer executable instructions, the tutorial providesinformation to the respective one of the plurality of users to associatethe name of a medication from the medication data associated with thatrespective one of the plurality of users with the clinical condition forwhich the medication was prescribed to increase a likelihood of therespective one of the plurality of users taking the medication asprescribed.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of users areemployees of an employer.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein themedication information source is a pharmacy benefit manager, ahealthcare system, an electronic prescription network, or a pharmacy. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein the medication data comprisesprescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, and herbalsupplements.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the medication data isupdated continuously in real time.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising providing a third party with secure access to the respectiveone of the plurality of users medication data after receiving anindication that the respective one of the plurality of users wishes togrant access to the third party.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein theaccess is view-only access.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the accessis view-and-edit access.
 9. The method of claim 6, further comprisingproviding the respective one of the plurality of users with alertsindicating when the one or more medications prescribed, dispensed, orclaimed by the respective one of the plurality of users need to berefilled.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising providingplurality of users with an ability to designate a preferred pharmacyfrom the pharmacy directory.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein thesecure patient portal is a web-based portal or a mobile-based portal.12. The method of claim 1, wherein the medication data is received froma pharmacy benefit manager for an employer or a health plan.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the plurality of users are members of ahealth plan.
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising requestingmedication data for the respective one of the plurality of users on anon-demand basis.
 15. The method of claim 6, wherein the third party isthe respective one of the plurality of users caregiver.
 16. The methodof claim 6, wherein the third party is the user's clinical care team.17. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing acomputer-implemented rewards system, whereby the respective one of theplurality of users is granted reward points for completing the tutorial.18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded withinstructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause theone or more processors to perform operations comprising: obtainingmedication data associated with a plurality of users through a securedocument extraction process and in real time from a medicationinformation source, wherein the medication data comprises the users'prescribed, dispensed, and claimed medicines; storing the medicationdata in a database in a non-transitory computer readable media;providing, through a secure patient portal comprising a web-based userinterface, access for a respective user of the plurality of users to themedication data associated with that respective user from the database;for each of the plurality of users, pre-populating the secure patientportal with the medication data associated with each of the plurality ofusers from the database; sending an invitation to one or more of theplurality of users, the invitation comprising a registration link forthe secure patient portal, to enable the one or more of the plurality ofusers to securely register for the secure patient portal by creating aunique login and password; once a respective one of the plurality ofusers creates a unique login and password, receiving information fromthe respective one of the plurality of users and completing a userprofile for the respective one of the plurality of users based on thereceived information; and providing, through the secure patient portal,to the respective one of the plurality of users, a user-interactivecomputer-implemented tutorial, wherein, using computer executableinstructions, the tutorial provides information to the respective one ofthe plurality of users to associate the name of a medication from themedication data associated with that respective one of the plurality ofusers with the clinical condition for which the medication wasprescribed to increase a likelihood of the respective one of theplurality of users taking the medication as prescribed.